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This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the WA Brewers Fest. You should go. Support our great state’s breweries, both new and old.

Very few states in this great US of A have so many exciting breweries. Unless you are some sort of professional brewery visitor and all you do from Monday through Friday is travel from brewery to brewery, trying everything available, there is no way you have tried all of the beers available at this fest. Get out, educate yourself, have fun, challenge your palate, and be responsible.

The following is the complete list of beers available for taste throughout the weekend. Well, I guess they won’t all be available throughout the weekend, some are Friday only (indicated with **). I’ve chosen to steer clear of these, for the most part, for several reasons. The biggest reason being that most of these beers have rarely been seen before, if at all, and thus I have very little information about them. If they sound good, and most do, and you are able to get a pour, sip it down and let us know what you think.

Of the remainder, I’ve highlighted the ones that I feel are most worth checking out. If you know about something special that I glossed over, please feel free to contact us.

Alpine Brewing– Oroville, WA
Alpine Pilsner (Pilsner)Alpine HefeWeizen (HefeWeizen)– Alpine and Chuckanut are always battling it out for German style superiority. A hefe is one of the very best styles for outdoor summer drinking.

Big Time Brewery– Seattle, WA
Wheat beer (American Wheat)Trombipulator (Belgian Tripel)– In case you didn’t know, bb.com has a strong affinity for Belgian ales. Big Time is quite possibly Seattle’s best brewery, but it often slips under the radar with its U-District hideout and lack of bottle distribution. I’ll take a little slice of Europe in the Emerald City any chance I get.
Ave Rat Malt Liquor (Malt Liquor)

Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen– Bellingham, WA
Kolsch (German Ale)Pilsner (German Pilsner)– It is extremely rare that I recommend a lager of any kind, especially a pilsner, but chances are good that you will find no better brew in the style than that of Chuckanut.

Foggy Noggin Brewing*- Bothell, WA
Bit O’ Beaver (English Bitter)Christmas Duck (Porter)– Here is a good chance to check out one of our newest breweries. At the very least, these guys seem to know how to name a beer. I’m simultaneously hungry and thirsty right now.Kastrated Dawg** (Strong Ale)

Georgetown Brewing*- Seattle, WA
Manny’s Pale Ale (Pale Ale)Lucille (IPA) – Those of you who read our work with any regularity know that we have done some gushing about this one. Timperial has yet to try it. It will be sampled.
Roger’s Pilsner (Pilsner)
Cask Porter** (Porter)

Hale’s Ales Brewery*- Seattle, WASupergoose (IPA) – Chances are good that you have had this one before. Its presence on the market is very strong. If by chance you haven’t, please do yourself a favor. This beer is really good.
IX Gold on Sour Cherries (Belgian Strong Golden)
Kolsch (Kolsch)
SBW (Double IPA)Saizon** (Saison) – Another saison for us to try. Let’s see how a Fremont brewery interprets the farmhouse style.

Lazy Boy Brewing*- Everett, WA– This is what they call “shameless self promotion”. But seriously, all of these beers are delicious. If for no other reason, get the chili beers so that all of the pain Shawn and I go through manually chopping those peppers is worth it. Dry, cracked brewer hands + Scoville units = burning for days!

ColoradoNew Belgium Brewing– Fort Collins, CO
Ranger IPA (IPA)Trip VI (Spring Citrus Pale Ale)– In case you have been living under a rock for the past few years, the Trip series is a collaboration with Seattle’s own Elysian Brewing. These rarely strike out. Spring Citrus sounds really refreshing.

IllinoisGoose Island Beer Co. – Chicago, ILMatilda (Belgian Style Ale)– I’m kind of amazed that these guys are going to be at the fest. They are clearly quite serious about pushing into the WA market. That’s very fortunate for us. Goose Island makes killer brews and Matilda is no exception.

Deschutes Brewery– Bend, OR
Twilight Sumemer Ale (Light Ale)Hop in the Dark (Cascadian Dark Ale) – CDA is another way of saying black IPA, or balanced to the extreme. You can never go wrong with Deschutes.